There were plenty of people dressed like The Joker when the three-day C2E2 kicked off Friday at McCormick Place, some holding an oversized mallet and one holding a bomb. None of them looked like The Joker in the much talked about photo tweeted out Friday by “Suicide Squad” director David Ayer, but something tells me that will change when the comic convention resumes Saturday.
In addition to Joker costumes, the first day of C2E2 – now in its sixth year — featured several attendees dressed as The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. The most creative costume? The group that dressed up as “The Walking Dead” characters, sporting only black and white colors to stay true to the black and white comics.
I saw a few people dressed as Jay and Silent Bob, which is appropriate seeing how Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, who play Jay and Silent Bob on the big screen, recorded their “Jay and Silent Bob Get Old” podcast Friday at C2E2 in front of a soldout crowd. Signing autographs at C2E2 were 92-year-old Spider-Man creator Stan Lee, who tends to be the biggest draw at comic conventions, according to organizers I’ve spoken with in the past, and WWE Champ-turned UFC fighter CM Punk.
“Stan Lee stole my heat,” Punk tweeted Friday, referring to Lee’s popularity.
Apparently Lee is popular with celebrity guests as well. Matt Dillon (“There’s Something About Mary”) was on hand Friday with director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) to screen their new supernatural drama, “Wayward Pines,” which premiers on Fox May 14, and posted a photo of himself on Twitter.
“Great time today at @c2e2,” Dillon tweeted. “Ran into this legend! @TheRealStanLee.”
“Insidious: Chapter 3” has taken a much different promotional approach than “Wayward Pines” at C2E2. The upcoming horror sequel didn’t bring in any of its cast members, but it did bring its traveling haunt, “Into the Further 4D Experience,” which uses Oculus Rift technology to give guests an immersive, ghost-filled virtual reality experience. The 4D haunt is definitely worth checking out, mostly because it’s so different from your typical haunted house experience (that’s coming from a guy who visited 11 haunts in 10 days last year).
A good chunk of the C2E2 space is dedicated to exhibitors selling comic-related goods or experiences. You can buy comics, action figures, video games and, for reasons I’ll never understand, real swords. You can also visit the Reynolds Advanced Materials table, which sells products that allow you to make a rubber mask of your own face (in case you’re still trying to figure out what to get mom for Mother’s Day), or the Bodastone Photo Sculptures table across from it, which allows you to make a figure of yourself using only a photo.
The panels at C2E2 vary as much as the exhibitors and are held in separate rooms. Batman writer Scott Snyder took part in a Q & A during his panel Friday, while the Lightsaber Academy session taught attendees how to use the weapon and look cool doing it. The cast of BBC’s “Orphan Black” is scheduled to take part in a panel Saturday and Jason Momoa and Finn Jones are expected to take part in a “Game of Thrones” panel Sunday.
The highlight of the weekend, according to many people, is the C2E2 Crown Championships of Cosplay. There is a room for the costume competition and a separate room that is showing the championship on a big screen for everyone else. It’s that popular.
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